How to Build a UX Designer Portfolio: 6 UX Portfolio Examples

Portfolios are standard in many fields and industries: writing, art, web design, and design in general. This is also true for the field of UX/UI design, since a portfolio gives potential employers a feel for your experience and skill set and allows you to show off your experience and design sensibilities.

Portfolios are more than just a good idea for UI- or UX-focused roles — they’re often required as part of a job application and can make the difference between landing an interview and getting passed over. There are many ways for job seekers to become UX/UI designers, including UX/UI bootcamps, self-teaching options, and traditional college degrees — many of which offer the chance to begin compiling a new portfolio through in-class exercises and technical projects. 

To make the process smoother, we’ll discuss the importance of building a UX portfolio below, including what you should include in yours and how to build portfolio-ready projects that showcase your skill set.

Steps for Building a UX Portfolio

Step 1: Select Your Projects

The first, and arguably most important, step in building a UX portfolio is selecting the right projects to feature. If you have a wide variety of projects available to choose from, make sure to narrow down what to include in a portfolio. Ideally, featured projects should showcase a variety of skills, from research and wireframing to prototyping and graphic design. If you have a smaller number of projects, consider targeting a variety of projects to help you build the skills that you’ll want to showcase to future employers.

Step 2: Choose a Platform

The next step would be to choose a platform to host your portfolio site. Working with a site builder like Wix or Squarespace can help you set up a website quickly and make edits with little technical experience. These options offer a wide range of free, beautiful templates that are great for beginners. On the other hand, self-hosting your website and building your site from scratch requires more technical ability, but also allows for more advanced and personalized websites. 

Step 3: Assemble Case Studies

Once you’ve chosen your projects and found a hosting platform that aligns with your skills and goals, it’s time to put together case studies that show off your areas of expertise. UX design projects involve many different steps, from research to user interviews, prototypes, and finalized designs. Case studies go through the entire design process, showing readers the problems encountered by the organization and its users, how you came to specific solutions, wireframes and prototypes, and the final design. If you have access to data reflecting how your work affected users and the business, those would be good to include. 

If you’re just starting out in the field, compiling a portfolio can be difficult. One great option for gaining relevant skills and building portfolio-ready projects is completing a UX/UI bootcamp, such as  The UX/UI Boot Camp at UT Austin. 

Types of UX/UI Portfolios

UX/UI Designer Portfolio 

User interface (UI) design is an important part of the total UX design process, since the way a design looks and feels can have a major impact on the overall user experience. With this in mind, a portfolio with a well-thought out and visually appealing UI design can make a big difference. 

Effective UI and UX design incorporates design principles and best practices that are consistent across web design, UX design, print design, and more — making your portfolio’s UI design a great place to showcase your design chops to a potential employer. Adobe has a helpful blog post explaining some of these principles and how they can be found in design more broadly. 

If you want to read more about the difference between UX and UI design, get started with our helpful guide that outlines each field. 

UX Researcher Portfolio 

UX research involves the study of target users and their needs to uncover problems and how they can be solved through experience design. While UX researchers are encouraged to create portfolios to show off their projects, they’ll likely look a little different from what a UX/UI designer could create.

For example, a UX research portfolio might include content that looks like a case study: You might not upload reports or other materials directly, but rather build out a series of pages highlighting the UX research you’ve completed. These pages could start by discussing the issue a campaign was attempting to solve, the research that was conducted, or the changes or design suggestions that were generated from the research.

You can read more about building a UX research portfolio through this in-depth guide from the Nielsen Norman Group.

UX Engineer Portfolio

UX engineer roles aren’t as common as UI or UX designers, but they are important for many companies developing web experiences. According to Adobe, UX engineers focus on the interactive experience that a user will experience, often bridging the gap between software engineers, software developers, and the design team more broadly. UX engineers are advocates for both the UX and the development processes. 

As with other UX-focused roles, portfolios are important for UX engineers. Creating a portfolio gives a UX engineer the space to show off their design process and the projects that demonstrate their strengths and accomplishments. 

Web Designer Portfolio

Web design portfolios are similar to UX design portfolios, but with a few key differences. Web designers sometimes show off flashy animations and complicated JavaScript interactive applets throughout their portfolios. Keep in mind that the specifics of your portfolio depend on the type of web design in which you specialize. Front end designers, for example, might focus more on building a beautiful portfolio that flexes their design skills. At the same time, back end developers might spend more time building case studies that go in-depth on specific projects, similar to that of a UX researcher. 

Curious how to build a web designer portfolio with no job experience? A coding bootcamp can help you gain relevant skills and apply them to a portfolio of projects in just 12 to 24 weeks.

What Should Be Included in a UX Portfolio?

UX design predominantly focuses on architecting and displaying information to an end-user, typically in a way that satisfies their needs or solves a problem. Your portfolio should be no different — it must include relevant information for your audience of hiring managers or potential employers. Consider how you want them to interact with your site, and split your information into relevant pages throughout the user journey. Some potential page options include:

• Examples of your work: The most crucial section of your portfolio is the area where you showcase samples of your work. Many UX designers opt for a case study-style approach for individual projects, which involves going through the entirety of a project, from research to wireframes to a final product. Don’t hesitate to include photos of less-polished designs or written notes as long as they help showcase the process you went through in a project. 
• An ‘About Me’ section: An ‘About Me’ section can help you communicate information about yourself, your skills, and your educational background, and even show off a headshot so hiring managers can get to know you more personally. Beyond the basics, use this section to discuss how you work, the type of roles you’re looking for, and the fields you’re interested in entering. Consider mentioning any design-focused training, coursework, certifications, or bootcamps in this section. 
• Social media & contact information: This isn’t necessarily required, but having a space for links to your social media handles can be a good addition to a UX design portfolio. This space can also be a good fit for a copy of your resume so employers can easily access and review it before your interview.
• Blog: Adding a blog section to your portfolio site can give you the space to showcase your writing and thought process behind topics surrounding design, UX, UI, or anything else relevant to the career path you want to pursue. Having a blog is entirely optional and should only be considered if you’re interested in writing and plan on keeping it updated. Many designers skip this section, but it’s an option for those who’re interested in this extra display of interest.   

Generally, creating your UX design portfolio is a project in and of itself. You have to consider your readers (employers) and their needs (learning more about you as a candidate). Creating a professional UX portfolio is often included in a typical UX/UI bootcamp curriculum. Completing a bootcamp can allow you to gain valuable skills and work on portfolio-ready projects. 

If you’re interested in learning design fundamentals and putting the technology to use on projects you can add to your own portfolio, explore The UX/UI Boot Camp at UT Austin to get started on your journey into digital design.

UX Portfolio Template

UX Portfolio Tips

Your UX portfolio showcases your design skills just as effectively as the pieces it contains, so it’s important to develop a portfolio that highlights your understanding of UX best practices. Your portfolio should have a clear information architecture that demonstrates your ability to create site hierarchies and label information in a way that’s easy to find and understand. Below are a few factors to consider when building your portfolio.

• Design: Beyond the layout and architecture of your portfolio, it should also be beautiful to look at while maintaining strong information architecture fundamentals. Use your portfolio’s design to communicate your career goals and specialties. Do you want to work in a startup environment? Consider a design that’s fun, flashy, and modern. Is a large enterprise company your goal? Consider maintaining a more traditional design that effectively conveys information. 
• Project choice: It may be tempting to add every project you’ve worked on to your portfolio, but it’s important to select and showcase only the projects you’re most proud of. If you’re a newer designer or want to build out more complex projects, consider completing The UX/UI Boot Camp at UT Austin. The boot camp curriculum involves creating high-quality projects that showcase your talent in the field. 
• Iteration and optimization: Don’t create a portfolio and think that it’s done — portfolios should grow and change as your skills do. Think of your portfolio as a work in progress that grows iteratively and update it as necessary.

Video is another non-essential option that can add a bit of flair to your portfolio and help you stand out from other candidates.. This can be a video overview of select projects, testimonials from employers or clients, or just a clip that showcases your design process.

After completing The UX/UI Boot Camp at UT Austin, you’ll walk out with an impressive set of professional portfolio pieces that can help you get started in the field.

6 UX Portfolio Examples for Inspiration 

One of the best ways to get started on your own great UX design portfolio is by seeing examples. In the following section, we’ll go over a variety of portfolio examples and highlight their strengths. As you browse, keep in mind that there are many types of portfolios you can use, and the one that’s best for you depends on your current skills, field of choice, and career goals. 

UX Design Homepage Portfolio Example

Your homepage is one of the most important aspects of your overall portfolio as it’s where visitors will land and make their first impression of your work. Zara Drei, a UX/UI designer based out of London, shows how effective it can be to display your most important information all on a single page. Her use of color is excellent, and the information is laid out in a way that’s easy to understand.

While the portfolio also offers specific pages for each section, visitors can also get all of the information they need from the homepage itself. 

Minimalist UX Design Portfolio Example

Sometimes, less is more when it comes to portfolio design. Aileen Shin is a designer who works across digital products. Her portfolio is simple — only including sections for work and personal information. However, the entirety of Aileen’s portfolio communicates all of her information in a clear and beautiful way. The individual project examples discuss the design process, how the project solved problems for users, and the results. 

UX Design Branding Example 

Junghoe Hwang is a UX/UI designer with a very well-defined brand. In their introduction, they state that they love “playful interaction design, minimalism, and happy dogs.” This personal brand shines through the rest of the site’s design through a minimalistic color palette and the use of bouncy 3D animations. The portfolio is an excellent example of how you can communicate your personal and professional brand through your portfolio design.  

UX Design Case Study Example 

Bre Huang is a UX designer who worked on a project focused on improving the design of Uber’s rewards program, Uber Pro. Her case study on the project is an excellent example of showcasing a project in its totality. It starts by discussing the problems Uber discovered through users of its rewards program, examples of how the team solved the problems through robust UX design, and ends with a set of peer testimonials on her contribution to the project. The page is incredibly well organized, well designed, and beautiful throughout, with great use of color. 

Simple UX Portfolio Restrictions Example 

Danny Rodriguez, a designer at Meta has a very simple but well-thought out portfolio. Danny’s homepage provides a short introduction for himself, his goals, and his design philosophy. Danny’s portfolio also showcases an issue that’s worth considering for designers completing professional work: Danny’s portfolio notes that detailed case studies for specific projects are available only on request and cannot be made public. This brings up a valuable point to make sure that you have the permission to post information about specific projects, especially if you’re disclosing data that could be for internal company use only. 

Website Builder UX Portfolio Example 

Jackie Eaton’s opted to host her UX design portfolio on Squarespace, showcasing the possibilities of the platform and how a site builder can be used to set up a strong portfolio without being too complex or time-consuming. Jackie’s portfolio shows off how you can highlight your best work in a very clear manner, as her page only displays six projects. That being said, each one includes an in-depth case study with lengthy descriptions and relevant images.

Begin Building Your UX/UI Designer Portfolio Today

Building a UX design portfolio is one of the most important steps for anyone who wants to work in the design field, since strong portfolios give employers a taste of your work, allow you to show off your design skills, and help you build a personal brand.

Creating a great portfolio requires a keen eye for detail and an understanding of the work you want to highlight. Completing a UX/UI bootcamp can help you by teaching best practices, design theory, leading design software, and much more — everything you need to build your own design portfolio!